


The Act of Considering with Attention

by Brightki



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, I Might Rewrite This (Eventually), One Shot, Pregnancy, Secret Marriage, written forever ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-09-05
Packaged: 2017-12-25 16:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brightki/pseuds/Brightki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hermione and Draco contemplate their new life. Originally posted to LiveJournal prior to May 2009.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Act of Considering with Attention

**Author's Note:**

> Contemplation, noun: the act of considering with attention.

Hermione stood out on the snow-covered bank of the lake, bundled against the cold wind from the water. She had been standing out on the bank for sometime now, her cheeks rosy and slightly chapped. She had been out at the lake house for two months, out of touch with most of her friends and family. They all knew she needed a break, a vacation. Only a very privileged few knew where she was, how to contact her – and why she needed the break. 

Ginny knew, so she had just assumed that Harry knew as well. At any rate, they had both been very supportive so far. Ron knew nothing, and it would stay that way for only a little longer, before they would all have to deal with his rage. 

She sighed and watched her breath dance on the wind before dissipating. There was something eerily peaceful about the silence of the water and the snowy shore. Knowing she was safe under the close watch from the dark figure on the lake house porch made it that much more peaceful. The black cloaked figure – so similar and yet so different than the same cloaks that used to give her those powerful nightmares, post-War. No longer. 

* 

Draco stood on the porch, watching Hermione stand in the snow, surely freezing her knickers off. But everyday she insisted on bundling up and going out onto the shore for at least thirty minutes. All he could do was scowl and either let her go off on her own or bundle up and head outside. He would not wander the snowy shore by her side, but his eyes would never leave her solitary figure as she paced the edge of the water, never leaving the range of his sight. 

After about forty minutes of her nonsense, she would sigh and make her way back up to the porch. He would relax enough to smile to himself, watching her move carefully over the snowy path… but by the time she would look up to him, his usual scowl would be firmly back in place, though he would always reach out to help her up the stairs. 

"Don't you get tired of freezing yourself to death?" 

"Don't you get tired of asking the same questions over and over again?" She looked up into his gray eyes and smiled at the scowl on his face. She walked back into the house and relaxed into the warmth, surveying the fire crackling and the candles lit on the mantle, putting off a warm glow and the gentle scent of lavender wafting through the room. 

Hermione turned to face Draco, watching him as he removed his gloves and wool cloak. "Thank you, Draco. For everything." He turned and arched a brow before he moved over to her and peeled off her cloak, gloves and scarf for her. 

"For what?" He threw her things on top of his in the chair, as usual, despite the fact that she would get annoyed over it. He ushered her over to the fireplace to get warm again. 

"For… everything. For staying here with me, for helping me. For not leaving me." 

He arched the other brow and deliberately wrapped his arms around her, drawing her back to his chest. "Well. It is my fault that you are here. You are carrying my son." 

"Daughter." 

"Son." He smirked from behind her wild, riotous hair. "And if some people found out that, or that we are married… Well. I'm sure it could end ugly. And no one will ever harm you. Or my child." 

"Our child." She smiled and laid her head back on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I love you, Draco. Thank you, anyway." 

He smiled into her hair, eyes on the dancing fire as he spread his hand over her heavily swollen belly. "I know. You're welcome, love." He drew Hermione down into his arms on the couch and with a wave of his wand, reactivated the locks and wards on their home. 

Nothing would get in, or out; nothing would harm his family and escape his wrath. 

* 

Hermione could only sigh and snuggle into Draco's arms, relaxing in his warm embrace. There was nothing like being curled up into his arms with nothing but the soft pops and hiss of the fire and their breathing to fill the silence. She had been lonely for so long, waiting for someone to step into her life and grab her attention, make her focus on life. First the war, then work. There had been no room for anything else in her life, no room for even herself! 

Then one day, almost two years after the end of the war, he had came striding into the Ministry, blonde head held high and proud, ignoring the mutters and whispers that followed his footsteps down the hall. She had felt as though she had been mesmerized – it had been years since she had laid eyes on Draco Malfoy. The way the light had shone over his hair, how his eyes glanced around so dismissively… it had drawn her in like a moth to a flame. 

He must have been leaving the Minister's office that day when suddenly he stopped in her office, with a grave expression, and asked her to dinner that weekend. It had been a quiet affair, built over years of buried lust and yearning. No one had known – until Hermione found herself pregnant. Draco had immediately hauled her down to the Ministry and paid a fortune for their rapid and silent marriage. If anyone had noticed the platinum band that suddenly appeared on her right ring finger, no one said a word. No one mentioned the matching band in gold that appeared on Draco's hand either. 

Not to her anyway. 

Only once she began to gain so much girth that she could no longer hide it from anyone, even under her work robes, did she let Ginny know about what was going on. The younger woman had been surprised, and then had acted as if there was nothing surprising about it at all. Looking back, she thought that there really wasn't anything surprising about it, for those who really knew her. So she had packed up and moved to the lake house, her new husband trailing along behind a few days later. 

"Hermione?" 

"Hmmm?" She turned her head a bit to look up at Draco, a lazy little smile lingering around the corners of her mouth. 

"Are you getting hungry?" 

"Not yet." 

"OK.” A moment passed. "Hermione?" 

"Yes?" 

"I love you." 

"I know. I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Author/Artist: kitsuneneko (LJ)  
> Written for: almondoil Valentine's Gift - Fanfiction  
> Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. No profit is being made. Wah!  
> Notes: Well, it turned out more fluffy than you may have wanted, but here we go! :D Just nothing about it would let me convince it to be NC17! Enjoy.


End file.
